I've installed Ubuntu on a USB thumbdrive, to be used to backup (image) and partition a harddisk. I'm currently stuck at the backup-phase of my plan, because Ubuntu keeps shutting down.

From my perspective, it seems that it just shuts down, almost as if I had asked it to. I don't have any good messages in the logs, as far as I can tell, so I'm really looking for a place to start debugging. I've also been playing Minecraft off this installation, and it seems to not like that either: the same sort of shutdowns occur, but it isn't limited to Minecraft. It reminds me of a machine I saw with thermal issues, but I have no proof for this. (That machine would shutdown within two minutes if you simply ran a while True: pass loop in Python.)

The laptop was overheating. Unfortunately, I can't give the exact log file, as it's been awhile (and I forgot about the question…). The log was in /var/log, where you'd expect it to be, and had a nice glaring note about a thermal trip point (the 100°C one in the question) had been tripped. (Frankly, once I found it, I remember wondering how I missed it. That said, as I write, I can't remember where I found it.) Additionally, I could reproduce the shutdowns on Windows, though I could not find that Windows made a log entry beyond "unexpected shutdown".
–
ThanatosApr 3 '12 at 22:27

1 Answer
1

Just to make sure the temperature is not the problem, because the temp readings are pretty high and it wouldn't surprise if the laptop shutdown because of overheating. Normally a PC shuts down at around 90°C
Open the Laptop and clean it out.
I had similar issues and after cleaning the laptop all was fine.

Problem is, there might be hidden dust in the fan, so if everything seems clean take out the fan(s) and clean them too

How old is the machine? how long was it in use?

also... you could try to open the laptop and run it like that, sometimes it improves cooling, not always thought.